Zara Stone

The first game I ever played was likely one of those £4.99 handhelds that featured Space Invaders and made the most annoying beeping noises ever. My parents were known to randomly throw it out the house/lose it accidentally and looking back I can see why they resorted to that as the constant beeep, b-b- beeep must have done their head in. I really count my first forays into gaming via the PC and console, and have decided to share them with you here.

The first one: Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle

This came pre-installed on the Sega Master system 11, which I bought for the pricey sum of £34.99 from Toys’R’Us. If I remember correctly I think a good portion of the price was paid for in pennies,with my Dad tutting in the background and saying it was waste of time. I couldn’t afford any games, so all I played was the pre-installed Alex Kidd and grew to love and despise the pixelated character. An hour of gameplay could vanish with one lecherous swipe of a monkey/ octopus and as there was no save point it was straight back to the beginning if you ever messed up. Don’t think I ever actually completed the game due to this annoying factor, but many hours were spent acquiring extra lives to allow Alex to make it to the next level. Read more…